The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was set up in the aftermath of World War II with the mandate of safeguarding global peace by promoting international intellectual cooperation across national boundaries. UNESCO's first flagship educational initiative, launched in 1946, was the Fundamental Education…

Amidst diminishing federal investment in Adult Basic Education (ABE), there is growing interest in return on investment (ROI) as an economic rationale to support ABE funding. Against this backdrop, we provide an overview of the ROI concept and methods and the empirical evidence on ABE program impacts to broaden the discourse among practitioners…

Adult basic education (ABE) policies aim to help adults improve their literacy, numeracy and information and communications technology skills, as well as their qualifications, often in pursuit of economic gains such as better employment and earnings. The large-scale improvement of skills and qualifications has been referred to as a wicked policy…

The Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) is the guiding framework for the Washington state community and technical college system's goals for student success. SAI emphasizes student momentum for college success by both building college readiness (such as basic skills gains and completion of precollege education, sometimes known as developmental…

Grandparents raising grandchildren represent a population of adults who confront complex interpersonal and environmental challenges. The intent of this case study was to gather and interpret evaluative data to better understand the impact of a 1-day community education program for grandparents who raise their grandchildren. Extension's philosophy…

Most of the authors in this issue of "Future of Children" focus on a single strategy for helping both adults and children that could become a component of two-generation programs. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, on the other hand, look at actual programs with an explicit two-generation focus that have been tried in the…

The prevalence of overweight children and adults has been increasing steadily over the past three decades. Behaviors related to diet and nutrition are often established in early childhood. Toddlers most often develop healthy eating habits through parent modeling. Due to the steady increase in obesity in children, there is a clear need for…

Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors (AP/OD) is a comprehensive, 10-session parenting skills and advocacy program developed by and for low-income Latino parents with children ages 0 to 5. Drawing from the real-life experiences of Latino parents and local data about their schools and communities, sessions are filled with interactive activities that aim…

The study examined family supports after identification of children's hearing loss. On a questionnaire, 456 respondents rated the importance of different aspects of family support, the quality of supports they experienced, and their preferences about informational resources. They verified the importance of informational resources, social-emotional…

A review of vocational rehabilitation (VR) data from a Midwestern state was conducted to identify predictors of rehabilitation outcomes for African American consumers. The database included 37,404 African Americans who were referred or self-referred over a period of five years. Logistic regression analysis indicated that except for age and…

This report presents the results of the formative evaluation of the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program (ALLESP). Data collection related to this evaluation took place between November 2008 and May 2009. The evaluation resulted in the following four recommendations: (1) It is recommended that Program objectives and activities…

The Millennium Development Goals launched in 2001 provide a worldwide agenda to reduce poverty by 2015. Though the eight goals provide synergies for the rapid reduction of poverty, the MDGs have come under criticism for being too narrow and sometimes leaving out critical aspects of human development and well-being. Although the MDGs address some…

Adoption resulting from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crop Management Diagnostic Clinic (CMDC) field days was evaluated using an on-line survey. Respondents reported significant gains in skills because of CMDC, but the gains were similar across skill areas. Adoption was affected by compatibility with the cropping system, relative advantage,…

This paper reports a systematic review of the quasi-experimental literature in the field of adult literacy and numeracy, published between 1980 and 2002. We included 27 controlled trials (CTs) that evaluated strategies and pedagogies designed to increase adult literacy and numeracy: 18 CTs with no effect sizes (incomplete data) and 9 CTs with full…

Program managers in adult basic education (ABE) face unprecedented public demands for accountability and continuous improvement. This study explored how applying the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence influenced management practices in local ABE programs. Managers were motivated to ask provocative questions about their work…